In my view, analysis of the Biden-Trump Presidential debate boiled down to one issue. It was very simple Each candidate had one mission. It was not about policy. At this point, most of the electorate has made up its mind about which candidate’s policies they favor, and most of them are not likely to waiver from their convictions. Furthermore, any policy gaffe could and would be “spun” by the spin doctors as is normally the case. (“He didn’t really mean that. What he meant was this.”) Each candidate had one crucial goal. To put it succinctly Trump fulfilled his and Biden failed his. More on this later.
This debate was all about optics, demeanor and appearance. Trump’s mission was to be disciplined, calm, resolute, and to avoid any bombastic, snarky, and demeaning attacks for which he has been known. Just state the facts. He was on the right side of most of the issues; he was ahead in the polls in most of the swing states; and he had the momentum. To put it in sports terms, he didn’t need to win the debate; just not lose it. Let the other guy lose it. Biden’s mission was to demonstrate he is cognitively able to serve as president for four more years. Avoid the stumbling, bumbling, fumbling and mumbling for which he has been known. Simply put, appear to be presidential, confident and in control. Try to bait Trump.
Well, we all saw what happened. Trump checked all the boxes he had to. Biden failed to do so miserably and decisively. In the words of Politico he “face planted.” He exhibited many of the traits of a cognitively impaired person – a stiff, halting, shuffling walk, a “deer in the headlights” stare, slack-jawed look, halting delivery, wandering eyes, and worst of all unintelligible speech.
He had many embarrassing moments, but two stood out in my memory. (1) He outright lied by claiming that “the Border Patrolmen [Union] endorsed” him. While all candidates occasionally lie and twist facts this one was particularly egregious as it was easily and promptly debunked. The BP union tweeted right back declaring “to be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden;” and (2) he stumbled through his point about healthcare even losing his train of thought entirely at one point for several seconds and ending it by saying “we finally beat Medicare.” This made no sense. (Trump’s response was simply “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
It appears that for most of the viewers Biden’s performance was a real shock. They had never seen him this bad and had no idea of his deterioration. His handlers and media allies have been shielding him most effectively. They have been limiting his public appearances and have managed to deflect and spin most of the negative coverage. However, those of us who regularly get their news from Fox were not surprised. We have been observing this decline for years. The mainstream media’s penchant for “fake news” has finally been exposed.
To illustrate the depth of Biden’s debacle. It’s worth noting the post-debate commentary on CNN. As we know, CNN has continually criticized Trump and defended Biden even to the point of distorting the news. None of the 15 or so commentators had anything positive to say about Biden’s performance. A couple of representative quotes: 1) John King described a “deep, wide and very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party.” 2) David Axelrod stated that “many Democrats felt shock[ed] at how President Biden looked at the beginning of the debate.” 3) Maria Shriver tweeted that there was “panic” in the Dem Party (as a result of the debate).
CONCLUSION
- For Biden and the Dems there is no coming back from this. It is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” We all saw the picture and it wasn’t pretty. Even worse, our allies and our enemies saw it too. The spin doctors can’t make us unsee it. As Chico Marx once said, “Who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?”
- The next debate is scheduled for September 10. That leaves 2 1/2 months to “live” with last night’s results, 2 1/2 months for those results to be cemented in the minds of voters. Moreover, my prediction is that the Dems will find some pretext to cancel it unless they manage to replace Biden.
- Today, most of the Dems are in a panic. So are their fundraisers, which be more significant. That is not hyperbole. That is not an exaggeration. Even the CNN and MSNBC commentators I listened to agreed Biden performance was disastrous. There is no way to spin or fact-check out of it.
- Most Dem supporters are probably already contemplating how, when and with whom to replace Biden. Down-ballot candidates for the Senate and the House saw their chances of winning take a big hit, and they are doubtlessly looking for ways to disassociate themselves from Biden. Whatever coattails he had have become an anchor. Only the most ardent Trump-hating, Kool-Aid-drinking supporters are remaining in his corner.
- Replacing Biden will not be easy. It is a complicated, though not impossible, process. Biden won 95% of the delegates in the primaries. They are pledged, though not legally committed, to him at least on the first ballot. They were hand-picked by the Biden campaign and are loyal to him. Historically, it has been rare for a delegate to abandon the candidate to whom he is pledged on the first ballot. For a majority to do so would be too farfetched to consider. The only way to replace him would be if declines the nomination at the convention and releases his delegates. So far, he has not shown any inclination to do so. Maybe members of his inner circle including his family, the Obamas and the Clintons could convince him, but as I write this none of them has shown any overt desire to convince him to withdraw.
- Invoking the 25th amendment before the convention is not a consideration. That is an unwieldy process and would elevate Kamala Harris, which no one wants.
Obviously, the situation is very fluid and is subject to change. This promises to be a very intriguing election. Stay tuned for further developments.
We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob 